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Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Week 7 - The enigmatic mounds...Not even a clearance cairn?

Well - It arrived far too soon - the last week of excavation in Arrochar....the last chance to find some evidence of Viking graves along the isthmus from their pre-Battle of Largs raiding spree (see above picture!). Local folk stories tell of large mounds, in which Viking ship burials are concealed. Well, I'm afraid we had to disappoint - and found only 2 natural mounds. Has it been hard maintaining the community's enthusiasm with no Viking treasure? Answer: NO! They have loved it. It has been great to witness such a positive reception for what some might say was not-terribly-exciting archaeology and to find out that normal people can also get excited about tiny little bits of flint and chert (Our star find was a flint blade - pictured with the finder below - she is a local Mum who runs the Brownies!)

We rounded off the week by visiting the now famous site of High Morlaggan - famous as a benchmark Scottish Community Archaeology project on a boulder strewn hillside above Loch Long, and afterwards we took to the Village Hall dancefloor for the best "Sooth" Ceilidh I think I've ever been to (Orcadian ceilidhs take a lot of living up to!) I was sad to leave Arrochar but exciting about the new challenges ahead...